The government and businesses are joining forces to build mega-scale artificial intelligence data centers (AIDCs) worth 550 trillion won at regional hubs including Ulsan, Donghae, and Sejong. The move reflects the view that while traditional data centers were simply facilities for storing data, data centers in the AI era are evolving into "AI factories" that produce tokens and intelligence by training and inferring large-scale AI models. Under the plan, the government will swiftly support power, land, and permits, while businesses will handle AIDC construction and operation as well as attracting global investment, aiming to develop Korea into the largest-scale AI infrastructure hub in the Asia-Pacific region.
The government unveiled the plan at the "National Briefing on the Three Mega Projects for Korea's Great Leap Forward" held at the Blue House guesthouse on the 29th.
In the first phase, the government will partner with SK Group, GS Group, and Naver to build AIDCs with a total capacity of 8.4GW by 2029. The three companies will invest approximately 550 trillion won, including investment they attract. SK Group plans to build a total of 5GW including 1GW in Ulsan, GS Group plans 2.4GW in Donghae, and Naver plans 1GW centered on Sejong.
SK Group is also reviewing additional sites by region, including the central, Daegu-Gyeongbuk, Honam, and Gangwon regions. In the second phase, SK will expand the 5GW AIDC it is pursuing in the first phase to 15GW by 2035. Including the 8.4GW from the first phase and the second-phase expansion, a total of 18.4GW of AI data center infrastructure will be built domestically.
GS Group has selected the Bukpyeong Second Industrial Complex in Donghae, Gangwon, as its AIDC business site. The largest in Asia, the total investment will reach 30 trillion won. Including graphics processing units (GPUs) and memory, the figure is expected to reach about 120 trillion won. GS Group will rapidly assemble core capabilities for AI data centers, including power generation, data center construction, and large-scale infrastructure operation. As Korea's largest private power generation operator through GS Power, GS EPS, and GS E&R, it possesses know-how in supplying large amounts of stable power for AI data centers. GS E&C, Xi C&A, and DC Bridge have accumulated extensive experience in building and operating data centers such as the Epoch Anyang Center and the Goyang Magna Center.
The government expects the AIDC capacity in the Asia-Pacific region to reach about 58GW by 2030. It explains that even if domestic AIDC capacity expands only to 14.37GW, it would account for about 25% of the entire Asia-Pacific, enabling Korea to leap into the region's largest-scale AI infrastructure hub.
Although not included in the government's announcement that day, Samsung Group is also pursuing AI data center construction projects. Representative examples include the Solaseado AI Computing Center in Haenam, South Jeolla, and the AI data center in Gumi, North Gyeongsang.
The government and businesses are pursuing large-scale investment in AIDCs because the benchmark of AI competition is expanding beyond model performance to the ability to secure computing infrastructure. SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won, who served as a presenter, defined AIDCs as "factories that produce intelligence." He explained that while data centers up to now have been general-purpose infrastructure for simply storing data, AIDCs are infrastructure that produces AI intelligence with enormous computing power. Therefore, AI data centers require ultra-high-density power that is dozens of times higher than ordinary data centers, and they only operate when next-generation immersion cooling solutions and cutting-edge technology that connect tens of thousands of GPUs as one are integrated.
Chairman Chey said, "We will build AI data centers totaling 15GW in each region, with SK Telecom as the core," adding, "We will build 5GW of AI data centers in multiple regions equipped with power and land, and will sequentially expand the 10GW of AI data centers as well."
In this regard, SK Telecom said, "SK Telecom's business model will expand beyond simply leasing space and power to high-value-added platform businesses such as GPU as a Service (GPUaaS), which immediately provides high-performance AI computing resources themselves in cloud form."
The government plans to link AIDC construction to export opportunities for related domestic industries. By advancing information technology (IT) equipment technologies such as servers, networks, and storage, and accumulating domestic AIDC operating experience, it will lay the foundation for cooperation with global companies such as Nvidia, AWS, Microsoft, and Equinix. It will secure core technologies such as open network technology, data processing units (DPUs), and optical modules, and will also grow the domestic neural processing unit (NPU) ecosystem. In line with the shift of the AI semiconductor market toward inference, the aim is to create a foundation for domestic NPUs to be used in data centers and industrial sites. Power and cooling equipment as well as cloud technology will also be scaled up and packaged to suit AIDC environments, and demonstration and commercialization will be supported through a tentatively named "AIDC Alliance" involving industry, academia, and research.
Power measures, the biggest variable in AIDC operation, will also be pursued. The government will supply power by combining renewable energy, nuclear power, and thermal power, and will disclose information on 345kV substations to encourage the dispersion of AIDC locations outside the metropolitan area. For non-metropolitan AIDCs, it will expedite power grid impact assessments and pursue reforms to regional electricity rate plans and dedicated rate plans for hyperscale AIDCs. It will also prepare supply measures in preparation for increased water demand.
Regarding concerns over water shortages, the Korea Water Resources Corporation stated that it will take responsibility for stable supply. Yoon Seok-dae, president of the Korea Water Resources Corporation, said, "Combining the surplus from dams secured in the southwest region with some adjustment volumes, the amount the corporation can supply on its own currently is around 400,000 to 500,000 tons per day," adding, "Considering partial water system conversions and the use of dams for local governments, agriculture, and power generation, we can secure more than an additional 300,000 tons per day." He continued, "If necessary, we will consult with the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment to secure additional surplus through measures such as dam expansion."
Bae Kyung-hoon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and ICT, said, "AIDCs will produce various effects, including direct economic impact, job creation through large-scale capital investment, and the emergence of leading solution companies," adding, "We will hasten the establishment of a 'token economy' in which physical AI and agentic AI operate based on tokens generated in AI data centers and connect this to economic value."
